Ex-councilman, defense attorney becomes ‘baby...

1of2Mark Goldberg, 62, is halfway in to his first year as a prosecutor for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office..Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

2of2Harris County Assistant District Attorney Mark Goldberg, who is also a former Houston City Council member, tries his first case at Harris County Criminal Justice Center on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, in Houston.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

Months after his retirement, Mark Goldberg got to thinking about taking the career path he never pursued.

He jumped into criminal defense after law school, skipping prosecution — sometimes considered a stepping stone in the field — altogether. If he began working again, he knew he would be inverting that path.

The 62-year-old ex-city councilman called his former classmate, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

“I had always regretted not becoming a prosecutor early on in my career,” he said. “That was one of my occupations on my bucket list.”

Six months later, the longtime lawyer is halfway into his first year at the DA’s office. He’s working his way up from the bottom ranks of the misdemeanor courts, but people who work with Goldberg know that he’s anything but green.

The prosecutor walks around the courtroom with ease and carries himself in a quiet but practiced manner. One co-worker jokingly calls him “Judge Goldberg,” hinting at his capabilities. And with his experience in city government, he has an understanding of public policy that Ogg says she hopes will advance the goals of her operation.

“It’s definitely an entry-level job,” she said. “He’s definitely not an entry-level guy.”

While many young lawyers opt to prosecute cases at the beginning of their careers, Goldberg started practicing on the other side. The hours and pay of criminal defense were better, he said, which was more accommodating for his life as a newlywed. He eventually switched to real estate law and home equities and was elected to City Council in 1999.

After a trio of two-year terms, Goldberg became a consultant in 2006. He moved to Iraq, where he was an adviser for a nonprofit that worked to establish democracy in the country. And when he moved back to the states, he took a job at Houston First, a quasi-private foundation that promotes tourism and operates several event and convention venues in the city.

He retired in 2018 but was bored, he said, and threw his hat back in the public arena in June. Goldberg isn’t unique in re-entering the workforce — 56 percent of people plan to work in some capacity after they retire, according to a 2018 Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies report.

Though he called Ogg to connect, Goldberg said he never heard back from his eventual boss. The district attorney said she didn’t see his application but was “flabbergasted” when she saw his name on a list of new hires. She knew exactly what he could contribute to her office.

As with most new prosecuting attorneys, called “baby prosecutors,” Ogg placed Goldberg in a misdemeanor court. He is also on her leadership team and attends meetings for the office’s bureau chiefs.

Goldberg brings a dual perspective of someone with a deep knowledge of public policy and low-level prosecutorial experience, Ogg said. And he understands the challenges of the high caseloads and reams of paperwork her staff has to handle, she said, making him the perfect messenger in herrepeated — and criticized — push for funding to hire more prosecutors.

“I just don’t think there’s anybody like that in town,” she said. “He’s certainly a secret weapon within our ranks.”

Goldberg says he’s aware of Ogg’s intention to have him speak on behalf of other lower-level attorneys in the office. He acknowledged the heavy caseloads, but he also has lofty goals of his own and hopes to move up through the organization to try felony cases in the Public Corruption Division.

Goldberg is already advancing in the ranks. He was first promoted to the Human Trafficking Division from his spot as the “No. 3,” or third-in-command, prosecutor in County Criminal Court at Law No. 12. He has since moved to the “No. 2” prosecutor spot in County Criminal Court at Law No. 11, another misdemeanor court.

He sometimes handles dozens of misdemeanor cases per day, moving from courtroom to courtroom, speaking with victims and helping shuttle cases along the docket. He gets to work early and is one of the last people in the office some nights.

Goldberg said he feels like he’s in the perfect position to represent not only the victim but the rights of the defendant.

“I think DAs across the counties in Texas realize they haven’t been treating defendants fairly,” he said.

He is quick to snatch up new cases, and he’s antsy for his first trial. While his keep getting delayed, he got a taste at a Dec. 9 motion hearing for a DWI case, where he hit his arguments point by point and remained unfazed when a defense attorney raised objections. Goldberg disagreed with his opponent several times but stayed polite.

“I hate to object,” he said, standing to address the judge, “but there’s no evidence.”

In person, Goldberg is rosy and talkative. He listens carefully when others speak, but he participates in casual conversation, occasionally cracking jokes and sometimes poking fun at his age.

While sitting at his cubicle in October, Goldberg’s first misdemeanor chief — his superior at his first post in the office — brought his wife to say hello.

“He was my No. 3. My No. 3!” Dan Malik said as he introduced Goldberg to his wife. “I should have been reporting to him.”

And while he is older than many of his co-workers, Goldberg said they don’t make him feel any different for it. The Transamerica Center study, which has been cited by the AARP, shows that most workers have positive perceptions of workers age 50 and older, saying that they bring more knowledge to the workplace.

Jeff Ross, a criminal defense attorney who has worked opposite Goldberg, said he thinks the prosecutor gracefully accepts that he works closely with people who often have decades’ less experience than he does. And he is eager in the courtroom, moving along a quick learning curve.

“It’s just unusual to see a person his age in the misdemeanor division of the trial bureau,” Ross said. “He’s picking up everything very rapidly.”

Judge Genesis Draper, who oversees Court No. 12, said she wasn’t initially familiar with Goldberg’s background. But when she learned of his past experience, she said, she found his humility and work ethic to be remarkable.

“He came in as the No. 3, kind of the low man on the totem pole, and really embraced it,” she said.

Mike Monks, another defense attorney, said Goldberg is refreshing to work with in the lower courts. He doesn’t seem to view defense as the enemy, and just wants to resolve cases.

“He’s always been a very upfront, straightforward guy,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to have a prosecutor with his level of experience working in the misdemeanor courts.”

Samantha Ketterer is a reporter on the Houston Chronicle’s breaking news team. She joined the staff in 2018 after covering tourism and Galveston City Hall for The Galveston County Daily News.

Samantha graduated from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism, where she started her reporting career working for The Daily Texan. She later interned for the Houston Chronicle’s metro desk and Austin bureau and was a reporting fellow for the Dallas Morning News’ state bureau.